A SURVEY used to draw up the future provision of traveller sites across the Maldon district has been branded “inaccurate and incomplete”.

Hearings into Maldon District Council’s long delayed Local Development Plan restarted on Tuesday morning when inspector Simon Berkeley heard evidence over the provision for travellers.

A new Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment (GTAA) from 2016 to 2033 found the council needed to find land for an extra 19 pitches.

But Annie Hopkins, of Great Braxted, questioned the accuracy of the assessment and the council’s policy.

Mrs Hopkins has been fighting for a better policy on travellers following a series of appeals related to traveller pitches on Lea Lane.

She said: “Overall I think the 2016 GTAA is inaccurate, incomplete and underestimates need. And so it is not a reliable evidence base or robust in National Planning Policy Framework terms.”

Mrs Hopkins described the GTAA as “poor quality” and said it would be “impossible for the council to de- fend on appeal”.

She added: “The council has clearly shown that they cannot be trusted to deal with “larger than local” issues.

“Past wrongs cannot be used to justify or perpetuate further harm, therefore we cannot accept the possibility of further expansion and intensification at Lea Lane.

“We have been fighting appeals for over 20 years and we have been trying to hold Maldon District Council to account for their failure of policy for the last six years, but in all that time nothing has changed and we are very tired.”

Ian Butt, interim strategic planning policy manager, said the new policy would see the council protect existing lawful sites and ensure future proposed sites met criteria.

He added the policy would assess whether proposed sites “would up- set the balance and character” of a particular area.

Concerns were raised about the plan not factoring in travellers migrating to the Maldon district over the next 16 years.

But Steve Jarman, of Opinion Research Solutions which drew up the assessment, said during the work, which saw 2,000 travellers interviewed, no groups said they were planning a move.

He said: “The whole point of having an appropriate and robust policy is to allow the planning system to determine whether or not a site or application for pitches is appropriate from a planning perspective.”